Anti-shark finning campaigns

Hilton Hotels are still serving shark fin dishes in their restaurants in the Far East. We think they should go 100% shark fin free. Take action.

Tell China Trust Hotels to stop selling shark fin soup (October 2011)

China Trust Hotels is a chain of 9 hotels in Taiwan, all of whom sell shark fin soup. Ask them to stop selling shark fin soup in their restaurants. Take action.

ICCAT Campaign – demand ACTION (November 2009)

ICCAT was set up to protect vulnerable fish species and maintain sustainable levels of fish stock but has failed miserably. READ MORE.

Protest shark fin wholesalers.

Protest at shark fin wholesalers in the USA, UK, Spain, Australia and other countries. Click here for more info.

Albertson’s/Supervalu Campaign Update (21 July 2009)

As I described in my post on July 9th, Supervalu/Albertson’s are selling shark meat at their stores. Oceanic Defense has been campaigning for the last few weeks on the Supervalu/Albertson’s issue, and have been doing their best to get through to management, but so far without success.

Oceanic Defense has obtained the email addresses of the board of directors, and they are now launching another email campaign to contact these people and to demand that shark products no longer be sold at their stores.

You may also want to copy Stephanie Martin (Stephanie.Martin@supervalu.com), who was the contact for the initial phase of the campaign. I and several other people received the same form letter from Stephanie which did not address our concerns and showed no understanding of the issue at stake. More information is posted here, on the Oceanic Defense blog.

Albertsons/Supervalu (9 July 2009)

Oceanic Defense has launched a campaign against Albertson’s/Supervalu because of their continued refusal to remove shark meat from their stores. Many sharks, including the thresher shark (being sold at Albertson’s) are now considered by experts to be at risk of extinction; many sharks are on the IUCN red list of endangered species.

On the 9th July I sent an email to Stephanie Martin at Supervalu and quickly received the following form reply which showed no understanding at all of the issue and was an insult to my intelligence, and all those who, after all, are only trying to ensure the continued survival of a species. Please contact Stephanie Martin and ask her to get the company she works for to stop selling shark.

Is that the same email you send to everyone who writes in about a seafood “product”?

Don’t you realise that all you do when you send an email like that is infuriate people?

Your actions speak louder than your words.

It is NOT about “animal welfare”, it is about the EXTINCTION of a species that has been living on this planet for 400 million years.

Thank you for contacting us regarding seafood sustainability. SUPERVALU’s goal is to provide our customers with the widest variety and freshest selection of quality products possible. Because seafood sustainability is an important issue for SUPERVALU, we will continue to monitor and ensure compliance of the vendor community with government regulations, will support programs that are adopted as industry standards, and will stay attuned to new technologies that support the seafood industry.
One way we’ve stayed informed of developments on the issues is through our ongoing participation in the sustainability task force led by the Food Marketing Institute. We also consult regularly with other governmental and industry organizations including the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the National Fisheries Institute (NFI).
In addition, SUPERVALU has a formal, cross-functional Consumer Interest Advisory Council – comprised of company, vendor and third-party members – to provide guidance and counsel to SUPERVALU on matters related to animal welfare, food safety, consumer advocacy and corporate citizenship.
We recently published our 2009 Corporate Social Responsibility report, which highlights our commitment to the principles of social responsibility and our activities in areas such as environmental stewardship, philanthropy, civic participation and community involvement. If you are interested, you can access the report on our web site (www.supervalu.com).
As a company, SUPERVALU believes that education, associate awareness, ongoing commitment from our vendor suppliers, partnerships with the public, and ongoing verification practices surrounding seafood sustainability are key elements to maintaining sound animal welfare practices at SUPERVALU retail banners. We will continue to pursue our efforts with regards to seafood sustainability and appreciate hearing from you on this issue.
thanks!
Stephanie Martin .
Director of Communications and Public Affairs. 714.300.6659 office . 714.234.1078 cell SUPERVALU. 1421. S Manhattan Avenue. Fullerton. CA. 92831

Marine Bill Campaign, UK (19 May 2009)

Last week I was in London taking part in a mass lobby of MPs at the House of Commons about the Marine and Coastal Access Bill organised by 4 of the UK’s leading wildlife conservation groups. This is a landmark piece of legislation that should be a real benefit to marine life in British waters – it is the first time, anywhere in the world, that such an ambitious law has been proposed and fortunately it has cross-party support. However, as with any law, the wording of the bill is extremely important. Three specfic points have been highlighted for ammendment before the bill becomes law:
– The inclusion of a clear duty to designate Marine Conservation Zones (MCZs) for the protection of the full range of marine wildlife or habitats.
– Amendment of the Bill to ensure that individual MCZs contribute to an ecologically coherent network of marine protected areas, which must also include ‘highly protected’ sites.
– The removal of the clause that states socio-economic factors (such as fishing) can be taken into account when deciding whether or not to designate an MCZ.

The importance of this bill canot be overstated. The rest of the world is watching the UK on this issue. Hopefully other countries will follow the UK’s example and pass bills which result in the creation of their own marine nature reserves. Conservationists and activists have been working towards this for many years, it is important that it is a success.

If you live in the UK, please write a personal letter to your MP and let him/her know that you support and care about the marine bill and that you want it to be as effective as possible. Mention the areas of the bill that need improvement. It’s OK to send an email but we were told at the lobby (by an MP) that personal letters are much more effective. Find your local MP’s details here:

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/

Even if you live outside the UK you can help by writing to Mr Hilary Benn (Secretary of State for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs), his contact details are here:

http://findyourmp.parliament.uk/constituencies/leeds-central

If you want to email him please use this email address: Hilary.Benn@defra.gsi.gov.uk
You can also contact the government team working on the bill at this email address: MarineBillTeam@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Please help out with this campaign. If you only write one letter this year, do it for this campaign!

Thanks to a tip from one of our supporters, we learned of the corporate decision made by the Las Vegas Sands Corporation to offer shark fin soup on the menu of their Jade Restaurant in the Palazzo Hotel. We jumped to action and wrote a letter urging Mr. William Weidner (President and Chief Operating Officer) to remove shark fin soup from the menu. We have forwarded the message to other NGOs asking them to support us in this cause.
But that’s not enough.
We need your help! We need to get more people to voice their concern over this issue. With more people writing letters, we add weight to our appeal and a greater chance for success. Please help us to put a stop to this. We hope that if the Las Vegas Sands Corp. complies with our request, then others will follow their example.

UPDATE! This campaign has been successful and Las Vegas Sands Corporation are no longer going to offer shark fin soup on the menu! Thank you to everyone who took part and to the restaurant for taking a responsible stance on the issue of shark finning.

Your voice can help save sharks

Sobering scientific reports and long-term pressure from Ocean Conservancy and others have led the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to propose dramatic cuts in fishing for overfished Atlantic shark species and improve the existing ban on shark finning – the wasteful slicing off of a shark’s valuable fins and discarding the body at sea. The proposal is open for public comment until mid-October. “Public support is essential to ensuring that strong fishing limits are included in the final shark plan and implemented before it’s too late,” said Sonja Fordham, director of Ocean Conservancy’s Shark Conservation Program who serves on the NMFS shark advisory panel. To learn more about the Atlantic shark proposals and how you can voice your support for changes, visit:http://www.oceanconservancy.org/http://www.nmfs.noaa.gov/sfa/hms/sharks/Amendment%202/Email_Notice_SHK_A2_7-19-07.pdf

Send an email indicating your support for shark protection and requesting improvements on the shark finning ban to:
SHKA2@noaa.gov (title of the email should be “Comments on Amendment 2 to HMS FMP”)
Faxes can also be sent to (301) 713-1917
If you prefer you can send a letter you can send it to:
Michael Clark 1315 East-West Highway, Silver Spring, MD 20910, USA

Yahoo and Alibaba.

Alibaba trade in shark fins has now ceased as of January 1st 2009. Thank you to all who took part in the campaign.

Indonesia slaughters more sharks than any other country.

According to TRAFFIC, Indonesia was the biggest shark catching country in 2004 with 15% of the global total – that means Indonesian fishing vessels officially caught 122,000 tonnes of sharks – this figure is assumed to be vastly inferior to the actual amount due to underreporting of catches. Indonesia consumes high quantities of shark fin soup and the government has so far not taken any concrete measures to restrict the practice of shark finning.

Shark fins sold on Alibaba by an Indonesian company

Take action by sending a letter and an email to the Minister of Ocean Fisheries, asking that Indonesia introduces a total ban on shark finning.